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Government-funded researchers in the U.S. are laying the groundwork for an ambitious project to develop a complete neural map of the human brain. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, or BRAIN, initiative will receive approximately $100 million in startup financing and could lead to more effective ways to treat disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.

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The National Science Foundation has awarded 36 grants totaling $10.8 million for studies on neural circuits through the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, or BRAIN, Initiative. The NSF is one of three agencies participating in the program. The NSF received an overwhelming response to its request for project ideas relating to neural circuits, so the agency decided to triple the number of grants it initially intended to hand out, said James Deshler of the NSF.

Researchers will have six new funding opportunities to help them develop tools and technologies to better understand the brain, thanks to the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. "Scientists need new tools to be able to dissect the roles of particular neurons in the circuits underlying how we think and behave, and to learn which brain cells are disrupted by neurological disorders. These initiatives should provide them," said Story Landis of the National Institutes of Health, which has pledged $40 million in funding.

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has announced its partnership with Imec to develop a state-of-the-art sensor array that measures neural activity in the brains of animals. The institute and its partners have committed $5.5 million for the technology, which is expected to advance brain studies including the federal Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.

A technique that makes entire human organs transparent could help researchers study connections and signals in the entire brain. Previously, scientists could only study connections in the brain in microscopic detail, requiring them to piece together the bigger picture in a simulation. Using the new technique, dubbed CLARITY, researchers hope they can study complex neuron networks in the brain, allowing them to see the bigger picture at the same time. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Government-funded researchers in the U.S. are laying the groundwork for an ambitious project to develop a complete neural map of the human brain. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, or BRAIN, initiative will receive approximately $100 million in startup financing and could lead to more effective ways to treat disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.